The Nokia Lumia 900 has been discovered to have a glitch that causes some …

Some Nokia Lumia 900 customers have been experiencing a loss of data connectivity—both LTE and 3G—on their new handsets. Nokia has identified the problem and devised a software fix, which will be rolled out on or around April 16th. Customers not wanting to wait can have their phones swapped for updated versions in AT&T stores. The company will also give any AT&T customer buying a Lumia between now and April 21 a $100 credit on their next bill.

With the phone's $99 on-contract price, this means that it's now effectively free for anyone buying in the next ten days.

Reports of connectivity problems afflicting some handsets, but not all, have been swirling around the Internet all day. Many handsets appear unaffected, but others lose connectivity after rebooting, unable to re-establish a data connection until they are hard reset or, in some cases, have some extra settings added.

These problems led to speculation that there was a manufacturing defect in some handsets made in Mexico (though other units, made in South Korea, appear to suffer the same issue), or that there was a problem with AT&T's provisioning process.

However, Nokia is taking the blame, claiming that the issue is a pure software problem, not a hardware defect, caused by a "memory management" issue. The patch on the 16th will remedy the bug, and any new handsets bought from AT&T should avoid the bug in any case.

The swift and generous response by the company underscores the enormous strategic importance of the handset—and compares extremely favorably to Apple's "antennagate" reaction, in which the company did nothing to address the underlying issue, opting only to offer cheap bumpers for a limited time.

The issue, and subsequent fix, raises further questions about AT&T's troublesome attitude towards updates. Indications are that the problem was first reported by AT&T's own staff (rather than any formal testing), and the fix will be authorized by the phone network and deployed within a week.

The internal testing apparently didn't even detect an important connectivity problem, and if the turnaround can be this quick for this update, it makes one wonder why AT&T refuses to authorize the roll-out of the keyboard-disappearance bug that Microsoft fixed in January.

Millions of people bought the unmodified iPhone after the trumped up antennagate media-driven so-called scandal.

It obviously was not an issue at all.

You guys beclown yourselves.

Peter Bright beclowns himself. I was actually surprised that his last article admitted something positive and worthy to be aspired towards in something Apple.

This was also a little ironic coming out so soon after Peter's article claiming the Lumina 900 wouldn't receive updates from Microsoft. I KNOW they're different kinds of updates (i.e. this is a basic functionality bug and it's from Nokie, not Microsoft), that's why I'm not saying Peter is wrong, just ironic.

Millions of people bought the unmodified iPhone after the trumped up antennagate media-driven so-called scandal.

It obviously was not an issue at all.

You guys beclown yourselves.

Peter Bright beclowns himself. I was actually surprised that his last article admitted something positive and worthy to be aspired towards in something Apple.

This was also a little ironic coming out so soon after Peter's article claiming the Lumina 900 wouldn't receive updates from Microsoft. I KNOW they're different kinds of updates, that's why I'm not saying Peter is wrong, just ironic.

That article was about not receiving them from AT&T and will it get Windows Phone 8. Doesn't stop OEMs from pushing firmware fixes.

Seriously? Terrible marketing move. If you want to offer a time limited $100 rebate at launch, great. But "because our flagship offering is defective, we'll give it to you free" is an awful message.

Actually, its seems more like, "We're standing behind our product." I get a quick admission there's an issue, there's a fix incoming, I can swap my phone now if I want it sooner, and they're basically taking out the early adopter sting for me? No, that's awesome, IMO.

I love my Lumia 900, and while I don't have this issue, I am having one (contacted Nokia already). This makes me feel better about Nokia.

Apple didn't do anything to address the antenna issue because ... well ... there's not an issue. As Apple demonstrated at the time (and as anyone looking at demonstrations online from other phones could see), it's a common issue with lots of phone to lose some signal strength depending on how you hold it. I had an iPhone 4 on the day it was launched and never had the slightest issue with signal strength. Anyone holding that up as a real issue is badly misinformed. The bumpers Apple gave away were mostly to make the few people who claimed they had a problem go away, IMO. I've never even seen a user with one of them in real life -- and I see iPhones everywhere.

This was also a little ironic coming out so soon after Peter's article claiming the Lumina 900 wouldn't receive updates from Microsoft. I KNOW they're different kinds of updates (i.e. this is a basic functionality bug and it's from Nokie, not Microsoft), that's why I'm not saying Peter is wrong, just ironic.

Wow, why don't you just go back and read the last paragraph of Peter's article again. /rolleyes

AT&T clearly has the ability to distribute fixes in a timeous manner when they have to. They just choose to drag their feet on updates that fix irritations that are too minor to threaten sales. THAT is exactly the problem. (Not to mention the fact that their 'internal testing' obviously failed to discover this fault before the phone went on sale.)

I'm sure glad that Ars Technica's pro reviewer caught this issue--oh wait, he didn't. So much for hands-on testing by supposed experts.

The issue is not universal. I believe The Verge, for example, says they had three handsets; two are fine, one has the data bug. The handset that Casey reviewed was built in South Korea, and they're apparently less prone (though not immune) to the problem.

Millions of people bought the unmodified iPhone after the trumped up antennagate media-driven so-called scandal.

It obviously was not an issue at all.

You guys beclown yourselves.

Why did Apple offer free bumpers, and why did Apple settle the class action lawsuit (offering $15, if memory serves) if it was "not an issue at all"? Why do independent third-party tests show that it was, in fact, an issue?

You guys are really slow at figuring this out, but whatever: it's obvious Microsoft and Nokia were pondering whether to offer the Lumia 900 for free to maximize sales or for $100 to maintain a sense of "quality" and value. They were obviously planning on dropping it to free on contract if sales didn't pan out. Offering people a $100 rebate for a tiny data glitch is an easy decision to their part to maximize customer loyalty and draw even more users, without completely devaluing the phone.

Millions of people bought the unmodified iPhone after the trumped up antennagate media-driven so-called scandal.

It obviously was not an issue at all.

You guys beclown yourselves.

Why did Apple offer free bumpers, and why did Apple settle the class action lawsuit (offering $15, if memory serves) if it was "not an issue at all"? Why do independent third-party tests show that it was, in fact, an issue?

The bumpers were offered simply to satisfy the few people who thought they had an issue, IMO. And I'm pretty certain that the $15 settlement offer was less than what it would have cost the company to keep fighting the issue. As Apple demonstrated at the time, the behavior was identical in other phones on the market -- and nobody was screaming that they were defective. There were videos all over YouTube at the time demonstrating the same behavior with various other phones. Why aren't you whining that those were never "fixed"?

Millions of people bought the unmodified iPhone after the trumped up antennagate media-driven so-called scandal.

It obviously was not an issue at all.

You guys beclown yourselves.

Why did Apple offer free bumpers, and why did Apple settle the class action lawsuit (offering $15, if memory serves) if it was "not an issue at all"? Why do independent third-party tests show that it was, in fact, an issue?

The bumpers were offered simply to satisfy the few people who thought they had an issue, IMO. And I'm pretty certain that the $15 settlement offer was less than what it would have cost the company to keep fighting the issue. As Apple demonstrated at the time, the behavior was identical in other phones on the market -- and nobody was screaming that they were defective. There were videos all over YouTube at the time demonstrating the same behavior with various other phones. Why aren't you whining that those were never "fixed"?

None of the phones that were popular at the time had the issue nearly as seriously as the iPhone. They still tended to maintain calls, even in this situation, while the iPhone dropped them.

It was not a major issue, but it was a black mark against a company known for getting it right. That said, dredging it up today as some sort of comp is kind of silly. Nokia is doing the right thing here, and should be applauded for it. Everything about thier launch has been nothing but class.

The issue for me was severe enough to where I had to reboot the phone every thirty minutes to get any cellular connectivity with the device working again. This is despite following activation procedures, resetting IMEI/ICCID over the telephone, restoring the device, taking to several different people to confirm I had my data plan that wasn't showing up my account, and so on.

Total mess.

It was enough for me to request a shipping label and return the device last Friday.

Millions of people bought the unmodified iPhone after the trumped up antennagate media-driven so-called scandal.

It obviously was not an issue at all.

You guys beclown yourselves.

Why did Apple offer free bumpers, and why did Apple settle the class action lawsuit (offering $15, if memory serves) if it was "not an issue at all"? Why do independent third-party tests show that it was, in fact, an issue?

The bumpers were offered simply to satisfy the few people who thought they had an issue, IMO. And I'm pretty certain that the $15 settlement offer was less than what it would have cost the company to keep fighting the issue. As Apple demonstrated at the time, the behavior was identical in other phones on the market -- and nobody was screaming that they were defective. There were videos all over YouTube at the time demonstrating the same behavior with various other phones. Why aren't you whining that those were never "fixed"?

What would be the cost of fighting the issue if there was no problem and Apple wins the case? Wouldn't the legal costs be awarded and paid by the loser? Or does this not happen in America?

"The internal testing apparently didn't even detect an important connectivity problem, and if the turnaround can be this quick for this update, it makes one wonder why AT&T refuses to authorize the roll-out of the keyboard-disappearance bug that Microsoft fixed in January."

You'd imagine that the carrier network from AT&T would not be that different from other networks around the world. Even if AT&T didn't want to bear the cost, you'd imagine that other carriers rolling out their updates would give them confidence.

That article was about not receiving them from AT&T and will it get Windows Phone 8. Doesn't stop OEMs from pushing firmware fixes.

You can go into AT&T stores and exchange it for an updated model, I've never even heard of that kind of offer before. Oh but Peter Bright says to hold off out of concern for poor support.

Peter Bright is going to be wrong but no one will notice since his assheaded endorsement of Windows 8 will overshadow everything else. Can we please get a new Windows writer? Anyone who thinks Windows 8 is a good idea should not be writing about Windows.

That article was about not receiving them from AT&T and will it get Windows Phone 8. Doesn't stop OEMs from pushing firmware fixes.

You can go into AT&T stores and exchange it for an updated model, I've never even heard of that kind of offer before. Oh but Peter Bright says to hold off out of concern for poor support.

Peter Bright is going to be wrong but no one will notice since his assheaded endorsement of Windows 8 will overshadow everything else. Can we please get a new Windows writer? Anyone who thinks Windows 8 is a good idea should not be writing about Windows.

that's your personal opinion, bro. I for one look forward to windows 8.

That article was about not receiving them from AT&T and will it get Windows Phone 8. Doesn't stop OEMs from pushing firmware fixes.

You can go into AT&T stores and exchange it for an updated model, I've never even heard of that kind of offer before. Oh but Peter Bright says to hold off out of concern for poor support.

Peter Bright is going to be wrong but no one will notice since his assheaded endorsement of Windows 8 will overshadow everything else. Can we please get a new Windows writer? Anyone who thinks Windows 8 is a good idea should not be writing about Windows.

that's your personal opinion, bro. I for one look forward to windows 8.

Forcing such a divisive UI is idiotic. Forcing a tablet UI on desktop users is idiotic. Anyone who defends this piece of crap will join Peter Bright in the clown circle when this is all over.

P.S. I have an MSDN subscription and most Microsoft software installed.

Pretty much the same story about the Ribbon. For the first time in many years Microsoft is creating some relatively original stuff. I doubt the people, who actually bother to install the preview (and go to vote on PC World) represent everyone (especially me).

Forcing such a divisive UI is idiotic. Forcing a tablet UI on desktop users is idiotic. Anyone who defends this piece of crap will join Peter Bright in the clown circle when this is all over.

P.S. I have an MSDN subscription and most Microsoft software installed.

A self-reporting Internet survey != real life. Anyone who's seriously studied polling and surveys knows there is a large - and generally unknown - bais to any self-reporting survey. This is like the first day of Intro to Statistics 101 level stuff.

What a difference between Nokia's customer services, and those of some of their "premium" competitors that might have claimed "the customer is holding it incorrectly". Who would have guessed that the best customer service could be had from one of the cheapest suppliers?

The bumpers were offered simply to satisfy the few people who thought they had an issue, IMO. And I'm pretty certain that the $15 settlement offer was less than what it would have cost the company to keep fighting the issue. As Apple demonstrated at the time, the behavior was identical in other phones on the market -- and nobody was screaming that they were defective. There were videos all over YouTube at the time demonstrating the same behavior with various other phones. Why aren't you whining that those were never "fixed"?

Because they weren't defective. The problem with apple phone was the antenna where user could short circuit it by holding it normally. This dropped the signal so much that even in good field there was no connection.

The apple manufactured videos were made in a deep corridor where signal strength was low, and could reach the phone only from one direction. Placing a hand inbetween the signal and phone will attenuate it somewhat, but less than short circuiting antenna. And it has to be a place where signal comes from one direction, even reflecting from a wall will reduce the effect a lot.

So basicly you are comparing a phone that will drop a call from any direction to phones that could drop call in weak field, if there is only one celltower with field, and if there isn't a wall behind you to reflect the signal, and if the signal happens to come from the direction where your hand happens to be. That is a lot of ifs to one certainty.

I think it's a classy move, far classier than Motorola Mobility's random data connectivity drops with the Bionic and RAZR. I went through three or four phones that way, and it took them how many months to fix? Maybe five?

Millions of people bought the unmodified iPhone after the trumped up antennagate media-driven so-called scandal.

It obviously was not an issue at all.

You guys beclown yourselves.

Why did Apple offer free bumpers, and why did Apple settle the class action lawsuit (offering $15, if memory serves) if it was "not an issue at all"? Why do independent third-party tests show that it was, in fact, an issue?

The bumpers were offered simply to satisfy the few people who thought they had an issue, IMO. And I'm pretty certain that the $15 settlement offer was less than what it would have cost the company to keep fighting the issue. As Apple demonstrated at the time, the behavior was identical in other phones on the market -- and nobody was screaming that they were defective. There were videos all over YouTube at the time demonstrating the same behavior with various other phones. Why aren't you whining that those were never "fixed"?

What would be the cost of fighting the issue if there was no problem and Apple wins the case? Wouldn't the legal costs be awarded and paid by the loser? Or does this not happen in America?

It is very rare that the losers end up paying in the United States. Usually the winner must sue for costs under a separate lawsuit after the initial lawsuit is decided, and even then recovery is far from certain.